Doctor Dracula
by medicinecap
Summary: The Doctor and Jo Grant travel to a medieval world where vampires are terrorizing a village protected only by the mysterious Defender. Can they stop the infection from spreading through the entire town before it's too late? Inspired by Vampires of Venice with 11. Slight Jo/OC
1. The legend of Draculda

Jo sighed. "Again, not Metebelis III?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"I can't seem to figure out what's wrong," the Doctor said thoughtfully as he inspected the outside of the TARDIS for anything unusual. "It shouldn't have any problems taking us to where we want to go, but for some reason, it's avoiding Metebelis III."

"Maybe it's because the Timelord restrictions haven't worn off completely yet," Jo suggested, looking all around them. They had landed in what looked like the English countryside, but Jo knew appearances were usually deceiving when travelling with the Doctor. "Where are we this time, Doctor?" she asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, Jo. We'll have to find out." He straightened up and adjusted his great coat he had chosen specially for the occasion. A strong wind blew across the rolling grassy hills and Jo shivered, smiling. The air was so fresh here, it was definitely not anywhere near London. She wondered if they had travelled through time as well as space because everything felt so fresh and clean and new.

"Come on, let's head over that way. I think I can see a road." The Doctor took her hand and helped her over a large mud pile that lay directly in their path. The two of them trudged through the long grass, which turned into a newly sown field. At the edge of the field was the road. It was more like a portion of country side worn down by years passing vehicles, but it was better than cutting across country. The Doctor and his young companion, spurred on by the nippy air, walked briskly toward what Jo thought was the west, because the sun was slowly setting in front of them. Jo started to fatigue after nearly an hour of walking.

"Do you think that we should turn around and go back to the TARDIS?" she asked. "It's going to get dark soon and we might not find shelter for a while yet."

"Or we might find somewhere to stay quite soon." The Doctor pointed up the road just a little way and she noticed a tiny cottage for the first time. They renewed their pace. The Doctor knocked on the door and it was opened promptly by a young man.

"Hello," He smiled warmly at Jo and she blushed. He was rugged and dark-skinned and he wore a green tunic that reminded her a bit of Robin Hood.

"Hello," replied the Doctor. "I'm the Doctor and this is Jo. We're travelers and we're looking for a place to stay. Is there, by any chance, a town close by that we could find lodgings in?"

"Yeah, to the north about an hour's walk." He leaned in the doorway and pointed down the road that forked to the right. "But you won't get there before dark at the rate you were going. I noticed you down the road some way. Why don't you stay here for tonight?"

"Thank you," said the Doctor, "That's very kind of you." The man stepped aside and let them into the cottage. It was nice and homey, Jo observed. It smelled like dirt, leather and honey.

"My name is Enoch Silver." He indicated to two chairs at the table and the Doctor and Jo gratefully sat down.

"Jo Grant," Jo said, offering her hand to him. He took it and kissed the back of it. She blushed and smiled.

"Do you live here alone?" the Doctor asked, looking around. There wasn't much to be seen, just plenty of dirty out-of-place dishes and a few lovely tapestries hanging on the walls. They were very bright and detailed.

"No, I live with my grandmother. She's ill and keeps to her bed most of the time. I farm the land here."

"And where exactly is here?" The Doctor asked, still looking at the tapestries. They looked like they told a very long and complicated story, Jo thought.

"You're just a few miles south of the town of Rebamuse," Enoch said. "This is Lord Carrion's property, and he also is the magistrate in town."

"So, we're not in England, then?" Jo asked, just to be sure.

"No, I'm not sure where that is," Enoch admitted.

"Much too far away for you to be worrying about," the Doctor assured him. "Now, it might be very forward of me, but I'm curious about these tapestries. They seem to tell a very interesting and violent tale." There were people bleeding everywhere and people with fangs, Jo observed.

"Oh, it's part of local legend." Enoch sat on the edge of the table near Jo. The room seemed to grow darker suddenly and she became aware of the candles flickering on surfaces throughout the room.

"It's said that, years ago, a great evil came to Sepah, our world, and made its home very close to Rebamuse. The entity, we call it Draculda, was dying and so, in order for it to survive, it poisoned a few of the townsfolk. For years, it stayed dormant, living in hosts quietly among us, but there is always the threat that it will rise again, when it is strong enough to take control over our people." Enoch crossed his arms and smiled. "Or so they say."

"And that whole tapestry tells that little story?" Jo asked, marveling at how huge and detailed it was.

"Well, there are more details," Enoch said. "Like legends about times when it has risen up and tried to become powerful again, but obviously it didn't work. It also tells about the signs that manifest when Draculda is present."

"Such as…" Jo waited for a reply and the Doctor spoke.

"Large fanged teeth, an unquenchable thirst for blood, pallid skin, bloodshot eyes and what looks like sleeplessness."

"How do you know all that, Doctor?" she asked.

"It's all right here in the tapestry. Come have a look." Jo got up and joined him, bent over so they could look closely at the tapestry. There was so much blood in the pictures, everywhere.

"They look vampires," said Jo, reaching out to touch a depiction.

"Could be," the Doctor said. "After all, while they're just myth on Earth, they could easily be real here on this planet. Though, of course, there would be a much more scientific explanation." He turned to Enoch. "Tell me, have any of these things shown in the tapestry been happening in town recently?"

"Oh, nothing really like what's shown in the tapestry," Enoch replied. "But there have been a few unexplained deaths that have the townsfolk worried. But I don't go into town often, so I'm not sure if anything else has happened."

"Well, that's very interesting," Jo said through a yawn. "But do you think we could talk more about it in the morning? I'm exhausted."

"Of course," Enoch said, getting up quickly. "Where are my manners?" he picked up a candle and said, "Follow me, and be as quiet as you can." Jo followed him through a door and into a small bedroom. There was a little bed in a corner with a lumpy form sleeping on it.

"My mother," he whispered in Jo's ear. Enoch handed the candle to her and reached under the bed to pull out an extra bed on wheels. It was low to the ground and the mattress was thin, but Jo was so tired that she could have slept on anything.

"If there's anything you need, just let me know; I'll be awake," Enoch told her. He took the candle from her and she smiled gratefully at him.

Once he had seen her to bed, Enoch returned to the kitchen where the Doctor sat at the table still. He was sitting thoughtfully, smoking a pipe.

"I'm hope you don't mind," he said, holding it up.

"Oh no, that's fine," Enoch said. "I occasionally smoke one myself." He sat down where Jo had been sitting and reached over to pick up a leftover piece of crumbling corn bread from the table. "So," he asked, chummily, "Is Jo your granddaughter."

"No," the Doctor said. "Just my companion."

"You two travel much?" he Enoch asked, hoping to get the conversation rolling. This old Doctor made him nervous. The man seemed to know much more than he would say.

"Yes," replied the Doctor. He leaned forward on his chair and rested his elbows on his knees. "Is there more to the story?" He asked, quickly changing the subject. "This tapestry seems to say so. Who is that?" He pointed his pipe toward a figure that had sharp teeth like the vampires, but he was herding sheep. Or eating them; the Doctor couldn't tell which.

"Oh, that's the Defender of Rebamuse," Enoch explained. "They say he lives outside the city and protects it from Draculda. They say he also cures those who have been infected by Draculda and only eats their sheep as payment."

"I'm guessing that's how the locals explain every time that a wolf attacks their herds," the Doctor said practically.

"Yes, they do blame misfortunes on him quite a lot, but they never say bad things about him. It's quite an interesting relationship he has with the people of Rebamuse."

"I'd like to find out more tomorrow," said the Doctor.

"I'm going into town to sell some of the early vegetables this season. I could take you there, if you'd like."

"That would be wonderful," said the Doctor. He rose, his great form casting a heavy shadow in the candlelight. With his long great coat and thin form, he looked just like a vampire.

"I think I'll get some sleep now," he said.

"Just climb up to the loft," Enoch pointed to a ladder. "My bed's up there and you can sleep in it. I've got a few more things to do before I can turn in."

"Alright." The Doctor went to the ladder. "And thank you."

"You're very welcome," Enoch said, smiling. His teeth gleamed eerily in the candlelight.

Once the Doctor settled down in the loft and there was no more stirring, Enoch got up and slipped silently out the front door. He did not return until first light.


	2. The Burning

The next day Enoch took the Doctor into town as he had promised. Jo decided to stay with his mother, Mrs. Silver, instead. Mrs. Silver was old and could barely speak, but she was also very sweet and started showing Jo how to knit directly after breakfast.

Enoch said he was grateful to her for staying home with his mother and he and the Doctor left. Just by the first few minutes he and the Doctor spent talking, it was obvious to Enoch that he and Jo were from very far away, possibly another world. He told the Doctor all about what things were like. The country was still rather primitive with lords who owned the land and serfs who worked the land and got to stay on as tenants. It was much like medieval England, the Doctor soon saw when people started driving by in wagons drawn by donkeys and mules. Most of them were going the same direction, toward town, but a few were leaving with empty carts. They were the early birds who had already gone into town and sold their wares.

The town was more like a village, with only a two-story house and a small stone church steeple rising above the rest of the houses. There was no wall surrounding the village either; the sides of the houses made up a barrier and a sentry stood guard at the entrance. He gave Enoch a friendly nod and let them pass without hesitation.

Once inside, a lot more things came to the Doctor's attention. There were many people gathered in the town square, setting up booths and calling out to potential customers. Chickens fluttered wildly with children in the streets and pigs rooted into sacks of grain and corn.

Enoch rolled to an empty stall, obviously his claimed territory, and opened the back of his wagon. He didn't have a booth, but used his cart as the surface for exchanges. The Doctor looked around to see what he could find out. He made friends quickly and asked all the right kinds of questions.

"What's going to happen this afternoon?" The Doctor asked when he returned to Enoch's wagon. "Everyone seems to be looking forward to it."

"That would be the burning," said a woman who was buying from Enoch. She was middle-aged and wore a low-cut brown dress with a black vest. She also had a handkerchief tied around her head to cover her stringy hair.

"What burning?" Enoch asked, taking a few coins that she passed to him.

"Haven't you heard? They've found who was responsible for the three mysterious murders." She waved her hands in mock horror at the words "mysterious" and "murder." "They say the man who did it was possessed by Draculda. They're going to burn him at the steak today."

"Oh really?" said the Doctor skeptically. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Well, if you're planning to rescue the man, you're a fool," the woman informed him. "The entire town will turn up to watch it and you'll never get away with it." She left, taking a couple of oddly-shaped vegetables with her.

"That's very unfortunate," Enoch sighed. "I really hope they don't have another outbreak of burnings. That epidemic like that happened nearly 30 years ago and it was terrible. So many innocent people died."

"Where do they have the hangings?" The Doctor asked. Enoch pointed across the square to a tall metal post. It was burnished and misshapen, as though it had been heated many times over.

"The people of Rebamuse become so irrational when they stop believing in the Defender. So many people have died for nothing." Enoch stared at the pole, remembering many things.

"Do you believe in the Defender, Enoch?" The Doctor asked. He didn't seem like the type that would.

"It all depends." Enoch looked at the Doctor, trying to read him. "I believe in a defender who tries to take care of this whole village to the best of his abilities, but I don't believe that he's anything more than a man."

The Doctor decided to believe Enoch's version of things. The man sounded like he knew more than he was telling. Across town, a horn sounded loudly over the whole village, interrupting their thoughts. People began to close up their booths and fold them down. The streets was cleared right away.

"It's time," said Enoch. "Let's stay and see what happens."

People gathered in the square and more people came out of their houses to watch the burning. The townsfolk were careful to keep a distance between themselves and the stake.

"Everyone, make way!" cried a lone voice above the din. People stepped aside quickly to let an entourage of guards pass. They were lightly armed with swords, but had no armor.

"They're hire-for-pay guards," Enoch whispered. "They offered me a job, but I turned it down. Most of the time they just do whatever Lord Carrion orders them to do."

The guards led their prisoner up to the pole. They took out a length of rope and tied their prisoner to the burning pole. The entire time, the man was protesting his innocence and screaming that it hurt. What hurt him, the Doctor had no idea because the guards weren't being very rough. He noticed that the man was very thin and sickly. Everywhere the ropes touched his skin, he flinched and the skin turned pale.

"This man has been tried by the court of Carrion and found to be guilty of murder," the town crier read from a scroll ostentatiously. He listed off crimes that the man had committed, according to the court of Carrion. The entire time, the man kept protesting his innocence.

"And, lastly," read the crier, "He has been found to be poisoned with Draculda's disease which can only be purged through death." He pointed at them man, condemning him. "May your afterlife be filled with restitution for the crimes of this life."

The man screamed as an executioner bent down to the wood piled at the base of the pole. He held a torch to the wood for a few seconds, until the wood caught fire, and then backed away. The fire spread quickly and smoke filled the air surrounding the prisoner.

The Doctor was not idly watching. Since the town crier had begun reading off the list of crimes the man had committed, the Doctor had been looking for a way to rescue the wretch at the stake.

There was no chance that he could sneak up, unnoticed, and free the man from his bonds. The guards were surrounding him and vigilantly on the lookout. What the Doctor needed was a distraction. He turned to Enoch and was about to ask him to create a distraction, but there was a soprano scream from the crowd and all eyes looked that way. Except the Doctor. He took advantage of the momentary shock and dashed through the crowd towards the fire.

The guards ran down into the crowd and the people moved aside to reveal a young woman, lying on the cobblestone, as white as a sheet. Her face was pale and slightly blue, as though all of the blood had been drained from her body. Her mother held her in her arms and was patting her check, trying to revive her. With great effort, the girl raised her head and looked around. Then she sighed and her head dropped.

When her head lolled back, her hair fell aside to reveal a blood stain on her neck the size or a walnut. In that bloodstain were two small holes poked into her jugular. Another person in the crowd screamed in terror and people began to crowd in again, talking excitedly. The guards jumped in, trying to control the group.

Meanwhile, the Doctor had run around the backside of the pyre and kicked some flaming wooden planks aside so he could get to the man. The Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the ropes. They sizzled and snapped apart, freeing the man.

"Come on, this way!" The Doctor urged. He took the fugitive by the arm and helped him away from the fire.

"Doctor, over here!" Enoch waved from a far corner of the square and took off running down a small alley. The Doctor dashed after him, the fugitive following close behind.

They rounded several corners and dove down alleys and side streets that would have been impossible to find unless the seeker had known where to look. Enoch had just reached the end of a street, when he turned around suddenly, nearly running headfirst into the Doctor.

"This way, I know a shortcut," he said. "We can corner the real killer, follow me."

The Doctor spun around and ran with Enoch between two houses. They found themselves near the edge of town, close to the church. Unsure where their quarry had gone, Enoch and the Doctor stopped in the middle of the road and looked around.

"Where's the other one?" the Doctor asked, suddenly. "The one I rescued from the stake."

They both looked around for the man, but he was nowhere to be found.

"I hope he hasn't been recaptured," Enoch said. "Going to all that trouble for nothing."

"What happened in the crowd?" the Doctor asked. "I was too busy letting him free to pay any attention."

"Someone else has been killed. Well, now they know it wasn't the man they were burning who did it. And it's definitely the infection of Draculda."

"How could you tell?"

"The woman had been drained of her blood," Enoch said, shaking his head. "And there were bite marks on her neck. Only people who have been infected will do that, because they feel the powerful thirst of Draculda."

"How disgusting and sick," the Doctor commented.

"It's not their fault," Enoch told him, his voice taking on a defensive tone. "They just don't know how to deal with it."

"You seem to know a lot about what's going on here, young man," the Doctor said seriously. "What is it you're not telling me?"

"It's nothing." Enoch turned away. "I've just seen a lot of death because of Draculda."

"Alright, Enoch Silver, keep your secrets. But I think it's time to have a look at that body. Perhaps it will tell me what you are not." The Doctor turned and began to retrace their steps.

"It'll be at Dr. Eli Torneau's house by now," Enoch said. "Follow me."


	3. The Defender

Mrs. Silver had been trying to tell Jo something all day. After about an hour with the woman, helping her clean dishes and cook, Jo was able to diagnose the woman as having suffered from a stroke. Jo was not an expert in science or medicine, far from it. But she had seen enough of life to recognize the tightly clenching arms and inability to speak clearly.

It was hard for Jo to keep her cool, knowing that Mrs. Silver was trying to tell her something important. She kept pointing at the tapestry and making sounds. She would try a different approach and point at Enoch's room or his things. Jo told the woman all she knew about the tapestry and about where Enoch had gone, hoping that it was what she meant to convey, but Mrs. Silver just kept trying to say things that made no sense.

They made pancakes out of the dry goods in the kitchen and ate fresh vegetables from the garden for lunch. Afterwards, Jo cleaned up the place a bit. Enoch obviously tried his best to keep the place clean, but it really missed a woman's touch. With Mrs. Silver instructing her slowly and painfully where to put things, Jo managed to get a lot done that afternoon. The two women were exhausted by the end of it and Jo helped Mrs. Silver get out of her chair and into bed for a nap.

The cottage was quiet. Not even the ticking of a clock broke the silence, and Jo wondered if clocks existed on this planet. She looked outside and wished for the Doctor to come back to her soon. To pass the time, Jo decided to look through a trunk that was pushed into a corner. It had been covered with dust and things, but she had cleaned it up and now it looked very inviting. It had a lock on the front, but the key was still in it. Jo knelt down beside the trunk and turned the key in the lock. It clicked open.

Inside was a collection papers and documents, along with some rolled up tapestries. There were also some small trinkets and artifacts that meant nothing to Jo, but probably were important to Enoch.

Jo took out the papers first and looked through them. One was a ledger of names, mostly named "Silver" and Jo figured it to be a genealogy of Enoch's heritage. Another paper had figures written down that looked a little bit like numbers, but weren't quite. She wondered if they had a different number system on this planet that the TARDIS couldn't translate. She moved on to a large document, bound together with a needle and string. The paper was thick and dry and very, very old. She turned the brittle pages and found a section that looked interesting. She began to read the ancient handwritten text.

_It is the job of the Defender to protect the people of the town and all the surrounding countryside from the evils of Draculda. But it is also the job of the Defender to save the people from themselves. Those who are infected are just as much of a danger to themselves as they are to others. They are in the most danger as individuals because they are unaware of the danger._

_ Perhaps the most difficult job of the Defender is to protect the infected from underestimating themselves. It requires great powers of persuasion and compassion and empathy to convince the people that there are other ways and that they are better off saying No to their urges and temptations. The Defender must train them and teach them that there is a better way to live and also remind them that they are not controlled by the monsters within. They still have the power to do good. _

_ It is a thankless job and the Defender will lose friends and make many enemies, but he will ultimately reap the rewards of his actions by bringing up the next generation of the infected. The people already know what they are, and they must learn what they can become._

Curious, Jo flipped to a different page. This portion was written in a different hand.

_The Defender must remember all that he has taught the infected. He must not forget his roots, that he was once one of them and that he, too, was rescued by the previous Defender and brought up from the depths of depravity. _

_ They Defender must also remember that he is full of goodness. What he teaches the infected, he must also believe and live out within himself. The Defender is the protector of all that is still good within the infected. He carries the power of goodness around within himself and must never give up on that conviction. He must do good to all, infected and uninfected alike, to prove that there is good within all the infected and that they must not give up. He must prove it, not only to others, but to himself, so that, when he feels faint with thirst and weak with blood-lust, he is able to resist and maintain his impeccable record._

Jo didn't understand what all of these words meant. They sounded a little bit like religion to her, or perhaps inspirational tapes. But they also sounded like a practical medical almanac. She put the document down and reached into the trunk to bring out the rolls of fabric.

This tapestry was different from the others. It looked like it had been added onto at later dates because the dyes in the threads were just slightly different. She unrolled it, looking at the people. They were all dark-skinned, like Enoch and his mother. She guessed they might be family, based on the genealogy records they kept.

The pictures depicted people running after sheep, biting them like wild animals. It also showed groups of pale people sitting with the darker ones, listening to what the dark ones were telling them. There was a female in one picture, and she was shown fighting and tearing apart some of the pale ones.

Jo kept unrolling the tapestry, until she got to the bottom. There was a half-finished scene there, with a man striking down a man with a crown and cape. He, too, was pale, and he was surrounded by pale ones with angry, scary faces. Jo brought it close to her face and looked at it carefully. She thought that the man in the picture looked strangely like Enoch. In the corner of the unfinished tapestry was the corner of a bright blue box Jo recognized as the TARDIS.

She put the tapestry down, bewildered as to why the TARDIS would feature in a tapestry with strange, violent vampires and Enoch. Suddenly, an idea occurred to her. Jo gathered up the fabric and rushed into Mrs. Silver's room. She was just trying to sit up.

"Mrs. Silver, why is the TARDIS in this tapestry?" she asked, holding the picture out to the woman. The old lady struggled to say something, but Jo interrupted her.

"And who is this in the picture? What's going on?"

Again, the old lady tried to speak her mind, but it was incomprehensible.

"Is this Enoch?" Jo asked, pointing at the one killing the rich man in robes.

"Yes," Mrs. Silver said with a sigh of relief. She tried to say more, but only stuttered.

"Mrs. Silver," Jo looked the woman in the eye. "Is he the Defender? Is he infected by Dracula or Draculdo or whatever it is?"

"Yes," she answered Jo's question simply. Jo stood up, leaving the tapestry on the bed with the woman.

"I've got to go find the Doctor," she said, running to the door. She turned back to the old lady.

"Will you be okay?"

"Yes," the woman said again. Jo sighed and pulled on her furry white coat before stepping outside. It was late afternoon and a cold wind was blowing across the countryside. Jo began a very fast trot in the direction of town, hoping the journey wouldn't be too long and that she would get there in time to warn the Doctor.


	4. Infection

The Doctor and Enoch were in Dr. Eli Torneau's back room with the body of the young woman who had collapsed in the square earlier that day. Her body was stretched out on a table and she wore only a white linen dress. Her skin was almost as pale as the clothing.

The Doctor bent over her, inspecting the little wound on her neck. He had cleaned the skin to get a better look at the incisions. He borrowed Dr. Eli's tools and measured the circumference and width between the two holes. They matched the calculations for human incisors.

"Anything interesting, Doctor," Enoch asked, standing to the side and watching. He had tried to look over the Doctor's shoulder, but the Doctor had asked him nicely not to do that and Enoch didn't want to try is patience.

"There isn't much that's unusual. It's exactly what I'd expect from someone who bites the jugular and sucks the blood out of a living body." He looked on the other side of the corpse's neck, but there was nothing there. Dr. Eli entered the room carrying a strange device. It was a round bowl, with a spherical indent in the bottom. A little glass ball was resting in a metal frame, suspended over the bowl.

"Here you are, sir," said Dr. Eli. He set the device down and the Doctor took a little sterilized toothpick in a plastic bag out of his coat pocket. He swabbed the inside of one incision with it and put the tip in the indent at the bottom of the device. Then the Doctor leaned down over the glass ball and put his eye to it. Through the glass, he saw what was coating the inside of the wound, only magnified over one hundred times.

"What a marvelous device," he said, backing up from it and then bending to look again. "It's very advanced for such a primitive era."

"Thank you. I developed it myself. I'm still looking for a name," Dr. Eli said, looking pleased.

"You should call it a microscope," the Doctor mumbled. "Just a suggestion."

"A microscope," said Dr. Eli. He grinned. "I like the sound of that!"

"Shh," the Doctor hushed him and stared intently at the specimen. The view was a little blurry.

"You can adjust the focus by twisting that little knob under your chin," Dr. Eli whispered.

"Oh, thank you," said the Doctor. He did so and the view came into focus. He could see the cells of skin on the tip, but he could also see that they were in the middle of a transformation. A virus had begun to take them over before the host had died. Now the virus was dead too.

Feeling that he had seen all he needed to, the Doctor stood up and returned the microscope to Dr. Eli.

"Thank you for your assistance," the Doctor said. "I usually have my friend Jo with me to help, but she stayed with Enoch's grandmother."

"I'm glad I could help. Hopefully you can find a cure. It's surprising that an expert from the capitol is finally coming to help with our problem. No one has ever been interested before."

"Well," the Doctor shrugged, trying to keep his cover. "Medicine has never made such great advances before."

"Thanks again, Doctor." Dr. Eli showed them to the door. He shook hands with Enoch and told him to come again soon.

Enoch and the Doctor stepped out onto the street. It was already dark and cold. The Doctor was oblivious to the cold, his mind spinning over all the possibilities and ways to stop the virus. He could probably take some of the virus back to the lab in the TARDIS and run tests to come up with an anti-virus, but he wasn't entirely sure what would happen to the people if they took it. The virus carried similar characteristics to others he had seen. In the cases of the other viruses, the cell had become co-dependent on the virus. If that virus were removed, the host would likely die.

"You look concerned, Dotor. What is it?" Enoch asked. The Doctor told him his theory as they walked through town, back to the main square where Enoch had left his wagon and donkey.

"You see, Enoch," the Doctor said, "The virus isn't what kills the people, it's the loss of blood. Now, if a person were to be bitten and infected, but their blood was only drained a little, they would eventually recover from the blood-loss. But their body would still contain the virus and they would, I'm assuming, suffer the side-affects and become one of the very people who infected them.

"Yes, that makes sense," Enoch said, nodding. He followed along very quickly for someone who came from a primitive world. "But, Doctor, I'm wondering if we could, in some way, allow the virus to live on in the people, but not infect anyone else. Eventually the virus would die out."

"That would be something," the Doctor said. "But, if my theories about the side-affects are correct (and they usually are), it would take incredible amounts of will-power to keep the disease from spreading. Would it even be possible?"

At that moment, he heard the cries of "Doctor! Doctor!" and Jo came running towards them down the street. She ran to him, stumbling with exhaustion, and he steadied her. Jo was out of breath, but she did her best to speak.

"Doctor, I need to speak to you urgently. It's very important, and I need to speak to you alone." She glanced at Enoch, who stared back at her, his face unreadable.

"What is it, Jo?" the Doctor asked, taking her aside.

"It's Enoch," she said. "He's not human."

"Well, of course he's not. We're not on Earth, Jo."

She shook her head frantically and gulped more breathes of air. "No, I mean he's not like a normal person. He's something else. He's a vampire or something. I think he's called the Defender."

"But he couldn't be," insisted the Doctor. "The Defender is a myth that's hundreds of years old. Enoch couldn't be a vampire, he's not pale and bloodless like they are. And, besides, he if was a vampire, he would have already tried to drink our blood."

"But that's just it, Doctor. He doesn't drink human, I mean, people's blood. He drinks animal blood, like sheep. And he is bloodless, we just can't tell because his skin is so dark. It's the perfect disguise."

"Ah, I see!" The Doctor lifted his head to stare out into space, the truth dawning upon him. "But the Defender has been around for centuries. How could he still be alive?

"It's just a title passed down generation to generation," Jo said. "I found a book at the cottage with advice from past Defenders to the current Defender and Defenders of the future. I also found a genealogy and more tapestries describing what the Defenders have done."

"This could be very dangerous, Jo," the Doctor said.

"No, I don't think it is," Jo said, grabbing onto his arm. "The book talked about how it is a Defender's job to be the power of good and convince the other vampires to join him and become a sort of vegetarian, I guess. And I also saw something else on the tapestry…" She was going to tell him about the TARDIS being prophesied, but the Doctor interrupted her.

"Jo, where's Enoch?" The two of them looked around, straining their eyes to see into the darkest shadows, but they could see no sign of him. Enoch had vanished. There was a cry in the dark, suddenly, and Jo jumped.

"Quickly, this way," said the Doctor. He rushed towards the sound, his cape flying out behind him. Jo ran after him. Together, they ran through the streets, following the sound of shuffling and stomping footsteps always a few metres ahead of them.

They turned a corner and skidded to a halt. They had been led to the same place that the Doctor and Enoch had gone earlier that day on their pursuit of the killers. The church and graveyard were the only thing left in front of them.

"There!" Jo cried, grabbing the Doctor's arm and pointing. There was a thin slice of light cutting through the dark night. A door in the side of the church was closing.

"Good eye," the Doctor congratulated her and they ran to the church.


	5. Defeat of Draculda

It was bigger than she had originally thought, Jo realized when they reached the side door of the church. Compared to the rest of the town, it was majestic and ancient.

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and held it up to the door's lock. It clicked and the door opened a crack. He and Jo cautiously slipped inside. They found that they were in a hallway running along the side of the church against the outer wall. They went left and walked all the way to the end of the hallway. There was a door that opened to a staircase.

"I didn't know this church had a basement," Jo said. "It doesn't look like it would."

"I think you're not supposed to know that there's a basement." The Doctor fiddled with his sonic screwdriver and tapped it against his hand. A little light glowed at the end.

"Come on, Jo," he said, taking her hand. He led the way down the stairs into the blackness below.

At the bottom of the stairs they found another door and it opened onto a dimly lit room. It was cold and wet like a dungeon, with only candles to light the way. There were faint moans and cries echoing off of the walls. Jo shivered and took a few steps into the room. To her right, there was the sudden clank of chains tightening and a feral hiss close by her ear. She gasped and the Doctor pulled her out of danger. A woman with red bloodshot eyes and a foaming mouth was chained to the wall by her wrists. She opened her mouth and snarled, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth, complete with oversized incisors.

"Stay behind me," the Doctor said, pushing her behind him. "Be careful. They are venomous and desperately thirsty."

He advanced through the room, looking at all the people. They appeared to be at different stages of transformation, some going wild and insane at the scent of Jo's blood, others in a nearly comatose stage with their eyes rolling back into their heads as they leaned against the stone walls.

"Why are they locked up down here?" she asked.

"They're waiting until their conversion is complete," the Doctor said. He leaned forward to inspect one vampire who looked like he was sleeping. The person lunged forward with such ferocity that the Doctor almost lost his nose to its snapping jaw. He jumped back.

"Once they're stable, there's probably some sort of initiation to prepare them for their new form of life." The Doctor stopped in front of an empty space. One shackle was still hanging on the wall, but the other one was missing. A few broken links of the chain were scattered across the stone floor.

"Ah, this would account for our killer," he said. "One of them must have escaped and gone mad, killing that girl in the crowd."

"Doctor," said Jo, nervously, "Do you think the others could break loose?"

"Oh, very probably, with the right provocation," the Doctor said nonchalantly. Jo looked back at the room full of vampires all staring hungrily at her and she tugged on the Doctor's coat.

"Let's get out of here," she suggested.

"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "Here we go, this might lead us somewhere important." He took another flight of stairs back up to the ground level, Jo following closely behind him.

At the top, they opened another door that led into a vestibule beside the sanctuary. The door into the sanctuary was cracked open and the Doctor went over to it and peeked through.

There were two men, presumably vampires, restraining Enoch and they were looking down at someone kneeling on the floor before the altar. The man's face was shielded from view, but the Doctor could see he was wearing a long black cape.

"My lord, it's just impossible. He has no blood. He has already been converted," said one of the men holding Enoch said.

"You're right," said a soft, silky voice. "It is impossible. Unless you're telling me that he is the Defender."

"He isn't one of ours," replied the man. "We checked, and no more have escaped. He must be the Defender."

"Is that so?" purred the voice. "Well, then, kill him."

"With pleasure," snarled the man. They forced Enoch to his knees and one man held him in that position while the other reached down into a pew. He brought out a wooden stake and held it above his head, prepared to stab Enoch in the heart.

"Actually, not now," said the voice. "We need a new scape goat since our other man looks innocent now. We shall give this Defender to the people to burn at the stake." There was a pause, and then their leader spoke again. "Our two guests can come out now."

Jo looked at the Doctor, surprised. The Doctor opened the door and walked into the sanctuary. Enoch and the two vampires turned to look at him. The cloaked figure did not move from his meditating position.

"I could smell your fresh blood from the moment you entered the must be the man with the blue box," the kneeling one said. "I have been waiting for you a long time."

"I'm sorry, but I must confess, I have no idea who you are."

"I am Draculda," said the man. "Known to my subjects as Lord Carrion." He rose slowly and turned around. The first thing that struck Jo was how similar he and the Doctor looked. It wasn't anything striking, they just both had silver curly hair and a beaklike nose. But, while the Doctor was kindly, this man was foreboding and evil.

"If you know me," said the Doctor, "Then you must know that I cannot allow you to continue in this way any longer."

"That is not your place to say," Lord Carrion replied. He turned to Enoch. "This is my true enemy. You, man with the blue box, are just a sign, a symbol of legends that brings us to our final confrontation."

Enoch stood and the other vampires backed away from him.

"Are you prepared, Draculda?" Enoch asked. "Are you sure you are ready to face the power of the Defender?" he stepped forward, toward Lord Carrion. "You know that you will not be facing one mortal man alone, but you will face ten generations of Defenders. All of their knowledge, all of their wisdom, all of their pain, and all of their power." When he said the word power, he jumped forward to Draculda and grasped him by the shoulders. The evil vampire whipped out a stake from behind his back.

"Watch out!" Jo screamed.

"Jo, over here," the Doctor pulled her down behind a pew and there was an enormous crash. Wood splinters flew above their heads and there was a loud sound like hammers pounding and peals of thunder. Curious to see what it looked like when vampires fought, Jo peeped above the edge of the pew. Before she could see anything, the Doctor pulled her down again. It wasn't a moment too soon, because a silver candlestick landed in the seat right next to them.

"Come on," said the Doctor, tilting his head toward the back of the church where the main doors were. "Crawl under the pews. Quietly, now." They slowly army-crawled across the wooden floor, feeling the vibrations of the fight. There was no yelling like in a normal fight, but the pounding and banging and punching made ten times as much noise as a human fight.

When they had reached the doors, the Doctor pushed Jo out into the cold night.

"Run," he told her. "As fast as you can. Go back to the place where you found us. Dr. Eli Torneau has a shop there and he will take you in and keep you safe. Stay there until I come to get you." Before she had a chance to argue, the Doctor disappeared inside the church again. Jo crossed her arms and frowned, trying to think of something useful she could do. She hated the idea of running and hiding, especially while her two friends were in danger.

Keeping as quiet as she could, Jo sneaked back inside the church. She knelt down behind a pew and watched from her hiding spot.

The Doctor and Enoch were working together to beat down Draculda, who was nowhere close to giving up. Though Enoch was supernaturally strong, so was Draculda. The Doctor was using some of his best judo moves, but Draculda seemed to be just as good, if not better.

The fight seemed to go on and on, and the more they attacked, the messier the church got. Everything up by the altar was broken or had been thrown across the room. The first few rows of pews were demolished and the floor had large holes in it, exposing the rafters.

Finally, Enoch caught Draculda in a chokehold while the Doctor was distracting the vampire with a well-placed punch.

"Surrender, Draculda," Enoch said in his adversary's ear. The vampire struggled fiercely, but he was unable to break free. "Surrender or we will destroy you," Enoch warned him.

"Destroy me?" Draculda scoffed. "As if you ever could. You are one of this primitive race and easily subdued."

"You forget that you, also, are one of us," Enoch said. "You're no longer in your original form. You've had to take the form of Lord Carrion."

The vampire sighed and relaxed. "You're right." There was a pause, and then he broke free with a sudden jerk. Enoch grabbed him and they struggled. Then they crashed to the ground. There was a sickening crunch and their fighting ceased. Enoch rolled off of Draculda's back, revealing a wooden steak sticking out through the villain's back. Enoch looked down at his own chest, which had a gaping, bloodless hole in the center of it. He rolled onto his back. Jo and rushed forward down the aisle and knelt beside the Doctor who was propping up Enoch's head on his knees.

"Did it pierce your heart?" the Doctor asked.

"I think so," Enoch said, his voice weak as death was on his doorstep.

"It's okay," Jo said, wiping his brow gently. "You're going to be alright."

Enoch smiled sadly. "We all know that I'm dying." Jo looked up at the Doctor, hoping he would offer some miracle solution, but he only smiled sadly at Enoch.

"Goodbye, Jo. Goodbye, Doctor. Please, choose another Defender to take my place. Someone has to make sure all these new vampires know about the other way of living." He closed his eyes and breathed for a few more seconds, then passed away.

Jo's eyes filled with tears and she bent down to kiss Enoch's cool brow. The Doctor wrapped his arm around her and she leaned her head against his shoulder. Enoch did not look dead, though they knew that he was. He was perfectly preserved in his bloodless state for all eternity.

? ? ? ?

It was a good thing that most of the vampires who had been under the influence of Draculda had actually wanted to give up terrorizing the townsfolk, and when the Doctor showed them the books and the tapestries, they were quick to embrace Enoch's way of living. There were a few who struggled with it more than others, but they all formed a sort of support group to help keep everyone accountable. Families were restored, the missing ones found, and a new Defender was chosen. It was the vampire they had rescued from the stake that day when Draculda's curse was broken.

Jo and the Doctor only stayed around long enough to see that everyone was settled in and then they paid their respects to Mrs. Silver. She shared a tearful goodbye with Jo and managed to thank the Doctor twice before they marched off down the road, back to the field where the TARDIS was waiting for them and, hopefully, Metebelis III.


End file.
